Cattle-guard for railways.



J. E. WHEELER.

CATTLE GUARD POR RAILWAYS.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 1s, 1308.v

Patented. Allg. 17. 1909 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

JAMES H. WHEELER, OF BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON.

CATTLE-GUARD FOR BAILWAYS.

To all whom it may concern.' A

Be it known that JAMES H. WHEELER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing in the city of Bellingham, in the State of Washington,in the. United States of America, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Cattle-Guards for Railways, of which the following is aspeciiication.

The invention relates to improvements in cattle guards, as described inthe present specication, and illustrated in the accompanying drawingsthat form part of the same.

The invention consists essentially in the novel construction andarrangement whereby a ditch is formed across the trackway to receive thefore feet of the animal, and platforms hinged to the timber forming therear wall of said ditch are tipped thereinto on pressure from the weightof said animal.

The objects of the invention are to devise a simple and durablemechanism for such devices which will effectually operate under allclimatic conditions, and form a barrier to the passage of cattle andother animals on to the property of a railway track, and at the samevtime allow animals which may have trespassed on said property throughother openings to readily pass over the guard into the public roadway.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional perspective view, showing theroad bed of a railway fitted with the guards. Fig. 2 is across-sect-ional view through the line A-B in F ig. 1. Fig. 3 is anenlarged perspective detail view showing the under side of one of thetrip platforms forming the guard.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in each ligure.

Referring to the drawings, 1 are the rails of a trackway spiked ascustomary to ties 2.

3 is a tie of larger dimensions than the ties 2, and extending to eachside of the rails 1 a little beyond the ties 2.

a are hinge members firmly spiked to the top of the tie 3, and havingthe knuckles thereof along one edge of said tie.

5 are trip platforms preferably formed as here shown of the plate'ofmetal 6 riveted at one end thereof to the angle iron 8 and at the otherend thereof to the strap iron 9. The platforms 5 are strengthened by theiutes 7 extending parallel to and in proximity to the side edges.

10 are hinge members rmly bolted to Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 18, 1908.

Patented Aug. 17, 1909.

Serial'No. 449,159.

the under side of the said trip platforms toward one end thereof.

11 are rods inserted through the knuckles of the hinge members 4Lsecured to the tie 3 and the hinge members 10 secured to the tripplatforms 5, and having the split pins 12 inserted through suitablelateral orices toward each end of said rod and immediately outside thehinge members 4. The trip platforms 5 are thus pivotally arranged on thetie 3 at the edge thereof, the said platforms having the shorter endsthereof projecting outwardly over the edge of the said tie 3, and theother and longer ends normally resting of their own weight on the strips15 and 16 secured to the top of the ties 13 and 14 over which the tripplatforms extend. It must be here noted that the ends of the tripplatforms resting on the strip 16 do not extend beyond said strip, butlie fiat on the top thereof, consequently currents of air caused byvehiclespassing along the tracks at a high rate of speed cannot getunderneath said platforms to raise them from their normal position.

17 is atie approximately equal in size to the tie 3 and immediately infront thereof, the said tie 17 having the triangular-shaped strips 1Sextending along the top thereof between and on each side of the rail 1,said strips either forming part of the said tie or securely spiked inposition thereon.

The ballast between the ties 3 and 17 is dug away to leave sufficientspace for the short end of the trip platforms to be pressed downwardlyuntil the angle iron S stops against the tie 3 toward the bottom of saidtie. It may also be here mentioned that the tie 17 is spaced asufficient distance from the tie 3, so that cattle or other animals willhave room to remove their feet from between the projecting' ends of theplatform 5 and the tie 17 after they have stepped on the overhanging endof said platform and tripped up the long end of the platform inattempting to walk thereover.

19 are triangular-shaped strips similar to the strips 18 and spiked onthree or more of the ties behind the trip platforms, the ballast betweenthese ties being partly dug away.

The combination of the hinged trip platforms andthe ridged ties, asabove described, makes an effectual barrier to animals attempting towalk along the road bed, as the ridged tie in front of the tripplatforms makes it necessary for the animal to step between the ties, asthe slanting sides of the triangular the short end of one of the tripplatformsprd.

jecting over the tie 3, the said projecting end isdepressed by the.weight of the animal, and i the rearwardly extendingportion of theplat-` form springs upwardly and strikes the animal a blow, and preventsits further progress along the tracks.

l am awaie that hinged barriers operated by platforms pivotally securedthereto and extending between the 'rails' havey been used heretofore toprevent cattle from passing along trackways, but such devices are quiteimpracticable in actual use, owing to the numerous working parts andbearings which become clogged and uiiworkable through weather and otherconditions such as snow or cind'ers from passingtrains. In my invention,however, thereis no part which can be in Iany way affected by weather ormade inoperative through snow, or ice, or cinders falling thereon, astheends of the trip platforms where they project beyond the tie 3protect the space beneath the said tie and the tie 17 from being iilledin with snow or cinders, thereby insuring thek ready depression of saidend on 4the pressure of. an animals foot thereon. Furthermore the sheetmetal usedyin the construction of the platforms prevents airaniinal fromsecuring any foothold ,to in any way climb the platform when iii itstipped position.

Another feature ofthe invention is that though, as above explained,animals are prevented -from going in one direction over the guard, theymay quite easily walk over the said guard from the other side thereof;that is, if they get through other unguarded openings on to-the propertyalong which the tracks run, they can quite easily and naturally walkover the guard, as the rearwardly extending ends of the platforms restiirmly on the strips 15 and 16.

Vhat I claiinas my invention is: Y

1. In a cattle guard, the combination with a trackway yof a pair of tiesarranged paral- -lel and Vwforming the walls of a ditch extendlow theballastrlevel of said trackway, and

the forward one of said tics having an inverted `ii-shaped top betweenand beyond the rails, anda plurality of sheet-metal platforms havingiiuted side edges and reinforced ends and hinged to the other of saidties and occupying the space between and beyond the rails, and havingtheir forward ends overhanging apoition of said ditch and arranged Itoreach to the lower end 'of said ditch Vwall Von pressure being broughtto bear on said overhanging ends.

2. 1n a cattle'guard the combination with a trackwaynof a pair-of tiesarranged parallel and forming the walls of a ditch extending across saidtrackway, said walls extending downwardly to the bedof said ditch belowthe -balllast level of said trackway and the forward one of -said tieshaving an in.- verted V-shaped top between and beyond the rails, aplurality of hinge members spiked to the top of the other of said ties,a plurality of trip platforms formed of sheet-metal havingy the sideedges thereof'fluted, angle irons secured to the under side of said tripplatforms toward the forward endl thereof where they overhang saidditch, strap irons secured to the underside of said trip platforms atthe other end thereof, a plurality of hinge'members secured totheunderside of said strip platforms toward the frontend thereof, aplurality of' rods extending through the knucklesin the hinge memberssecured to said 4tie and the hinge members secured to vsaid 'tripplatforms respectively, and a Vplurality- 0fv pins extendingthroughsuitable lateral orifices in said v`rodsron the outside of v'said hingemembers.

Signed at Bellingham, lVashington, thisY 15th day of llune, 1908.

JAMES H. WHEELER Inthe presence of- RS. SIMPSON, DAVID E'. LAiN.

